Writer's Retreat (11/21-11/25)

Hello everyone! This past week was the writer's retreat for the screenwriting class. We actually stayed at a resort-type place, which is for blind children or something, in Colin's hometown. The facility was very nice. There were 9 bedrooms, each with two bunk beds and showers, a room with beanbag chairs, a meeting room, dining room and kitchen, as well as a sauna and a hot tub.

We left Griffith around 1 PM by bus. The retreat was 2 hours out of Dublin. The neighborhood was rural-suburban with lots of farms. Colin hired a cook to make us meals. It was so nice to have home-cooked food and it was always delicious. The first night we had Mexican and we made our own tacos. Each night Colin would screen us a movie in the meeting room. The first night we watched the rest of Cherrybomb (starring Rupert Grint), which Colin's friends Glenn and Lisa directed. Later we wanted to watch another movie so Colin played the Muppet Movie for us! I had forgotten how awesome the Muppets were.

Monday morning I went on a walk with Joe and Nora around the neighborhood. It was nice sunny weather. The backyard of the building leads to a lake, and that's where we went first before going off.

The neighborhood was really nice and quiet. I felt more at peace there than I did in Dublin. I really wished we had did the retreat more than once this semester. The three of us went on a really long walk just to find sheep. We'd see them in the distance, but none really close by. We did see a lot of cows though, and a pretty friendly horse.

This horse came over to say hello.

Unfortunately my camera battery died so I couldn't take pictures for the rest of the retreat. Nor could I get photos of the cute sheep we did find at the end of our walk.

Tuesday I got a lot of work done. I wrote 10 pages for my screenplay. Right now I still have the draft to finish, plus now I have lots of revisions to do. Colin's writer/director friends gave us tutorials on our screenplays after reading sample pages and treatments. I had my tutorial with Colin's friend and collaborator Vincent O'Connell. We took a walk while talking about my script. Vincent had such great insight about my story and his suggestions were so helpful. It was probably the most helpful tutorial I had.

Each night Colin would screen us a film. Monday night we watched Being There, which was Peter Sellers' last film, Tuesday we watched a film Vincent wrote called I.D., and Wednesday we watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The last night our class split into 3 teams and we solved movie quizzes. I was on a team with Mike, Joe, and Anthony and we won. Our prizes were 4 movie books. I took a book about screenwriting.

None of us wanted to leave. The beds were more comfortable, the showers were better, and the cooked food was delicious. Plus the sauna was nice even though I'm not really a fan, and the hot tub was amazing. The day we left it was Thanksgiving back in the States. Susanne took us all out for Thanksgiving dinner at restaurant. They gave us turkey, ham, potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce, and dessert.  I wasn't as hungry as I thought when dinner came around, but it was very nice.

There's about 3 weeks left in the semester! Including my screenplay, I have 3 other assignments to get done. It's going to be both stressful and exciting!

Retreat Tomorrow!

Hello everyone. Tomorrow is the retreat for all the Screenwriting students. I'm very excited. We've all been looking forward to this trip for awhile. The place we are staying at has a full kitchen, sauna, and a hot tub! There isn't any free wifi and only three laptops that my teacher is bringing will have internet. That's fine by me though. The internet can be so distracting, especially if we're trying to write a feature.

I had fallen behind in my screenwriting work, and for the past two days I've also developed a cold. Luckily, earlier this week I cracked down and re-vised my treatment and started writing a few pages. I've been worrying about my story too much. Colin says I have it all there. It seems that I'm writing a psychological thriller of sorts, which is fine by me.

Yesterday morning I went with some of my classmates to see the new Harry Potter movie. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but it was amazing! It is probably one of the best in the series so far. I didn't want it to end! I definitely would recommend it.

I'm bring my camera with me to the retreat. I haven't taken pictures in so long. I'm sure where we'll be staying will be very scenic and photo-worthy.

Doing Everything to Avoid Confronting Writer's Block

Hello everyone. For the past week I have not worked on my treatment for my script, nor have I started my script. The writer's retreat is in a week and I need at least 15 pages by then. I'm hoping to get everything done/started by tomorrow the latest. I just been having trouble getting into what to write. Writing script treatments is HARD. My original was only 4 pages and my teacher wants it to be at least 10. But once the treatment is done, the script should be easy.

The other night I went with 3 classmates to see Let Me In, which was the American remake of Let The Right One In. The remake was more of a horror movie than the original, and a little more gory. But it was fantastic in its own way. I wouldn't say one is better than the other. The remake cuts all the unnecessary details that are in the original to make a more concise story. I'd say if your a fan of the original Swedish film see it. And if you haven't seen either, see the Swedish one first before the American one. And read the book its based on.

Today one of my suitemates starting shooting her music video and needed a crew to help build a set at the studio she'll be shooting at tomorrow and Monday. I put off my work again to help out, because I haven't crewed in awhile. The shoot was at Jamestown Studios, a bug warehouse that served as an art gallery, and also rented out spaces for shoots and band practices. We spent all day setting up a space that in the music video, is supposed to be the inside of a cardboard box. I spent most of the time going out for supplies. I helped my friend Stephanie, who was art directing, put up brown paper on the walls to make it look like the cardboard and tape bubble wrap on the walls. The director is going to be shooting the scene through clear plastic, so the crew rigged the plastic wrap up on C-stands. We worked from 1:30-7:30 PM. It was good to be busy because it kept my mind off things, but it was so cold in the warehouse that I was grateful to be back in my warm room.

Tomorrow I must get work done and do laundry. I'm better disconnecting from the internet so I don't get distracted.

Day Trip to Belfast and Halloween Weekend

Hello friends. I know this post is long overdue. This week I had a treatment due for my screenplay, plus I been tired. Last weekend on Saturday Tisch took us on a day trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland. The trip was lead by the Irish History professor Tommy Graham. We left at 8 AM, but no one was happy with getting up at 7 AM. I fell asleep on the bus and woke up right when it was time to get off the bus. It was really cold up in Belfast. Tommy took us on a tour of the political murals in the city. They each highlight an important in Northern Irish history, especially during the Troubles.

These murals are all over the city. Belfast is literally divided between Catholics and Protestants (British Loyalists). There is a "peace wall" that divides them. When we first arrived we were on the Catholic side. We were all nervous, especially since Tommy was talking very loudly about history and we were afraid of offending someone. He took us to see a few more murals and cemetry.

Tommy then took us to the Loyalist neighborhood. It didn't look that much different, except for the British flags waving around. Tommy took us to one suburb where there was a few Loyalist murals.

After the political mural tour we all stopped for lunch at the Crown Bar, courtesy of Tisch (thank god I didn't have to spend money in British pounds). The food was good, and we got our own private booths. Belfast's city centre looks a lot more European that Dublin does, I guess cause it's under Britain. After lunch Tommy took us to the old Parliament building, and then we went to the Ulster Transportation Museum. I guess we were supposed to see a Titanic exhibit because it was built in Northern Ireland, but the exhibit was closed for renovations. So we just walked around looking at planes, trains, and automobiles (and bicycles too).

A real de Lorean! They were made in Northern Ireland

After the museum we went back to Dublin. I went out Saturday night in Temple Bar with some friends. Dublin has been celebrating Halloween all week, and Saturday night Temple Bar was crowded with costumed people. It was like Halloween in NYC, except this was the day before Halloween. All the bars were crowded. We didn't stay out for too long, and when we came back we watched Paranormal Activity in my room. That was a scary movie. We were screaming by the end.

I didn't go out on Halloween. The Screenwriting kids had a treatment due Monday, so that's what we were all doing. Except Colin changed the deadline to Wednesday, but I still didn't go out.

This week was a good one. Our Irish Theater class took place in the Irish Museum of Modern Art. We looked around at a exhibit before having class in the museum cafe. Wednesday in Screenwriting Colin brought in his friends who directed the film Cherrybomb (starring Rupert Grint) and they talked to us about their experience making the film.

I did some shopping today before going to Tisch to watch Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one) with the screenwriting class.


44 days left!

Fall Break '10: Brussels

The Brussels trip was a short one. We were only there for a day. I wish we were there for longer though, there was still so much we haven't seen! I was glad to be back in a French speaking country. Brussels would be the result of Paris and Luxembourg City having a baby.

The first thing we did was check into our hotel before going sight seeing. We found the Grand Palace, which was surrounded by souvenir, chocolate, and waffle shops. Belgium waffles are so yummy!

Chocolates galore!

The Grand Palace Square was beautiful

 We did lots of walking, checking out a since street fair. We were trying to find the Royal Palace because it was free to get in, but when we got there it was closed. Stephanie went to go to an art museum, and I wanted to find a bookstore to buy more Tin Tin books. We found a very busy bookstore with just what I wanted. I bought three more Tin Tin books in French.

Royal Palace gates

When all three of us met up again, we did more walking/sight seeing, then off the to city centre for dinner. We ate at a nice restaurant. Stephanie and I split one Belgium waffle and it was delicious. That was our last day of October break. We were exhausted from the traveling, so we went back to hotel. We were leaving at 3:30 AM to take the plane back to Dublin. To be honest, by the time we reached Brussels I was sick of traveling and wanted to be back in my room. But, I have a great 9 days. I was surprised that I was able to afford such a trip!

Anyway, I've been back for at least a week. Now that it's November, it's time to get treatments and scripts done! Only 48 days left, and they're gonna go by fast. 

Tomorrow I'll update about my Halloween weekend, even though it wasn't that exciting.

Fall Break '10: Amsterdam

Hello everyone! Happy November! Sorry it takes me so long to get these entries done, they should have been finished last week! Anyway...

For the third city on our eurotrip, we took a train from Luxembourg to Amsterdam. We had to transfer in Brussels, which is funny cause we're were there 3 days later. Anyway, once we got to Amsterdam we took a cab to our hotel. I immediately loved Amsterdam. It felt like an artsy/bohemian city to me. Plus, the Dutch are extremely open, especially with sex and marijuana. The souvenir shops had some very sexual souvenirs, like penis-shaped salt & pepper shakers, as well as pot leaf souvenirs.

Our hotel was named Hans Brinker, a "budget hotel." It was more like a hostel than a hotel. We did get our own room and bathroom, as well as lockers. But there was a sign that said not to leave valuables in the rooms. The lockers are very easy to break open. There were a lot of young people staying in the hotel, including Americans. One amusing things about the hotel is that they advertise how bad they are.

The hotel street

Amsterdam had some good street art

The first thing we did was visit a coffee shop. All coffee shops sell weed in Amsterdam. You have to be at least 18 to enter them. You can buy the weed itself, pre-rolled joints, or brownies. It was culture shock to see a menu just for weed. I'm not much of a pot smoker, so the fact that weed was so accessible wasn't a big deal to me. However, it was relieving that you didn't have go through shady means to buy and smoke weed.

We went to a sports bar to eat lunch because we hadn't ate much during our journey. I got myself a hefty English Breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. I love breakfast meals! It was so yummy. Although, one thing about the city is that the restaurants don't give free tap water, so we had to spend 6 euro on a bottle of water.

Our hotel was right in city centre, a great location for shopping.

After lunch, we went out to explore the city. I went straight into a gift and bought myself an Amsterdam messenger bag, a t-shirt, postcards, and lighters for my friends back home. There were so many awesome stores. I wish I could have gone shopping, but I didn't want to go overboard. We went deeper into the city centre. That weekend there was a fair going on with rides and games. We just checked out all the souvenir shops, which had some interesting things in them. One common Dutch souvenir is the wooden clogs. I bought mini ones to put on my desk.

Ferris wheel at the fair

There's a shopping mall inside!

The one thing that began to unsettle me about Amsterdam was that walking around at night made me very nervous. Beneath all the great sights and whatnot, the city is pretty sketchy, especially at night. I liked it better during the day.

The next day we set out to do some museum visits. There's lots of great (but pricey) museums to visit. We took a walk in a very nice inside Vondel Park first before going to the Van Gogh Museum, which was outside city centre.

Check meeee out.

The Van Gogh Museum was beautiful. The paintings were arranged chronologically. They had some other artists as well, like Claude Monet. Unfortunately Starry Night isn't there because it's in the MoMA in New York. I saw it the first time I went there.

In the museum shop I picked up postcards of the paintings I liked, and I bought my sister a mug. I spend a long time debating whether or not I should get my mom a gift in the museum too, but I decided not to, based on her tastes. After we had gotten lunch Stephanie and I went to a different museum while Anna went to the Heineken brewery. I forgot how to spell the name of the museum we went to, but there were lots of Dutch paintings (some by Vermeer and Rembrandt) and artifacts. I found the museum to be pretty boring, so I just glanced at the paintings. There were large tour groups crowding the paintings, so I didn't even get to look at the more interesting paintings.

Stephanie wasn't feeling so well so when Anna met up with us we went back to the hotel. Stephanie stayed in while Anna and I went out to meet our roommate Hannah. She came with us to dinner and then had to leave to meet her friend. Anna and I decided to find the Red Light District. It was so crowded with tourists (mostly male). The prostitutes just stand in the windows waiting to be bought. There are red lights above their windows (hence the name "Red Light" District). Including prostitutes, there sex shops and theaters with live sex shows. A very shady area indeed.

The Red Light District before it opens

On our way home Anna and I were heckled by two guys who wanted us to party with them. Anna said it was just a way to pickpocket us, further confirming my belief about how sketchy Amsterdam can really be. I feel safer walking the streets of Manhattan at 3 AM.

The next day we went to the Anne Frank House. It's not her actual house because she grew up in Germany. This was the house she hid in before the Nazis took her. It's a really popular museum, with tickets selling out for the next couple of days. We had bought a card that got us into any museum, so all we did was wait on a long line in cold, rainy, weather.

The museum was probably the most depressing place I've been to. You climb the stars to the secret annex where Anne and her family hid. Most of the furniture was gone, but some belongings were kept. They even had her original diaries as well as photographs. The saddest room showed the concentration camps where everyone was deserted. What was really sad was that only Anne's father survived. Anne had giving up on life after her sister died, believing everyone in her family was dead.

The museum had a bookstore with copies of The Diary of Anne Frank in different languages, as well as other books about the Holocaust. After the museum we got lunch, and then tried to find another museum to visit. We couldn't find the one we were looking for, so we went back to city centre.

We spent the rest of the night checking out bookshops, souvenirs stores, and the Red Light District (so Stephanie could see it). We had another early day, catching the train to the last city, Brussels.

Last photo in Amsterdam

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